The present invention generally relates to a cigarette smoking apparatus. More particularly, the present invention pertains to a puff-on-demand portable cigarette smoking apparatus which is capable of decreasing unnecessary tobacco burning as well as decreasing the generation of side stream smoke.
Generally, when a smoker lights up and smokes a cigarette, the cigarette is continually burned and the smoker only consumes a relatively small portion of the cigarette. In fact, many cigarettes are treated so as to insure a uniform continual burning when the cigarette is not being smoked. As a result, a large amount of the tobacco is unnecessarily burned and wasted during the smoking of a traditional cigarette. In addition, by continuously burning the cigarette, a large amount of smoke is unnecessarily generated, further exposing the non-smoking public to cigarette smoke, as well as polluting the environment.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,694,841; 4,774,970; 4,854,331; and 5,179,966 disclose various tobacco smoking devices. The ""841 patent is a system for self lighting cigarettes using substances which react with each other, the ""970 patent discloses a device which includes a conventional gas lighter, the ""331 patent discloses a smoking article wherein a carbonaceous fuel element is used to heat a tobacco flavor medium, and the ""966 patent discloses a smoking article which utilizes an electrically heated element to heat a tobacco flavor medium. Another type of smoking device is disclosed in European Patent Publication No. 858744 wherein heat from a combusted gas heats a heat exchanger which raises the temperature of a tobacco containing substance to generate tobacco flavor without burning the substance.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,233,998 and 5,529,078 disclose smoking devices for smoking cigarettes. The ""998 patent is an apparatus including a mounting within a housing for protecting the cigarette from wind and capable of collecting ashes and sparks. The ""078 patent relates to a smoker""s box for reducing pollution caused by smoking a cigarette. The smoker""s box allows the cigarette to be lighted so that smoke generated during both the lighting of the cigarette and during smoking does not pass to the outside atmosphere without first being filtered.
A limitation of several of these smoking systems is that they are not capable of accepting a traditional brand of cigarette, or if they can accommodate such a cigarette, they do not extinguish the cigarette after each puff. As a result, some previously known smoking systems waste tobacco by producing side stream smoke. Further, by continuously keeping the cigarette lit, previously known smoking devices are a potential fire hazard. Accordingly, it would be desirable if a cigarette smoking apparatus were available which obviates the disadvantages of the previously known smoking devices. It would also be desirable if the housing of such a cigarette smoking apparatus could be designed to catch and contain the ashes generated during the smoking of the cigarette.
Generally speaking, the present invention provides a puff-on-demand cigarette smoking apparatus for decreasing unnecessary tobacco burning, as well as decreasing the generation of side stream smoke. The portable cigarette smoking apparatus can be used to smoke traditional brands of cigarettes and includes a reusable lighter box housing including an aperture into which a distal end of the cigarette is adapted to be inserted into and removed from. After the cigarette is inserted through the aperture, the cigarette is directed into a cigarette extinguishing sleeve. The cigarette smoking system includes an actuable trigger which is operably connected to a heat source for activating the heat source upon actuation of the trigger to temporarily provide heat to light the cigarette, thereby allowing a smoker to take a puff from the proximal end of the cigarette. At the end of a puff, the cigarette extinguishing sleeve self-extinguishes the cigarette.
In a preferred embodiment, the trigger of the smoking apparatus is operably connected to a cigarette advancing mechanism for advancing the cigarette a preset distance along the cigarette extinguishing sleeve into the lighter box housing upon an actuation of the trigger. As a result, a portion of the cigarette is advanced beyond the cigarette extinguishing sleeve so that the heat source provides heat to an exposed portion of the cigarette.